Iceland 2024

I had the great fortune to return to Iceland for a week long trip with my wife, which happened to coincide with a year of higher Aurora activity, and with a number of volcanic eruptions (which we kept away from). This time I managed to spend a few days in Reykyavik, before heading on to Vik.

Reykyavik

We started our trip in Reykyavik, the capital of Iceland. I'd only briefly stopped off in the city last time I was here, so it was nice to spend a few days here exploring. Whilst it is quite a touristy city, particularly during the time we were there, there is still plenty of photo opportunities. There was also a fantastic sandwich place outside our hotel, so that was a plus.

Our first proper outing was a classic tourist trip, whale watching. We had a gorgeous day for it, bracing winds but clear skies. I took the opportunity of having a unique angle to shoot with my telephoto, not only just to reach what I was photographing, but it also gave the mountains a great compressed look.

It also allowed me to get a few tail shots of the whales!

The next day, I got up early and just went for a wander, in the hope a nice sunrise might materialise somewhere. As is the case in Iceland, the weather didn't play ball, but I did get to see the Harpa Concert Hall all lit up before dawn, which was nice.

I walked a bit further along the coast and photographed the Sun Voyager sculpture. The Sun Voyager is a stainless steel sculpture of a boat built in 1990 as a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the city of Reykyavik. As grey clouds started to brighten, the mountains in the background just started revealing themselves from the mist, creating a nice backdrop.

After Reykyavik, we started our long journey to Vik, via some classic 'Golden Circle' viewpoints. We visited Þingvellir first, and after a tricky walk to the frozen waterfall, found a waterfall completely covered with snow, which was disappointing. We also headed to Gulfoss (skipping past the insanely busy Geysir), but the photos I attempted didn't really come off. It was also quite busy with a number of parts closed due to the slippery conditions, but it was still an epic place to experience again, in slightly less inclement weather than the last time I went. I'll also give a shout out to the Secret Lagoon, which we visited on the way down to Vik. Its a geothermal pool, much like the famous Blue Lagoon, but smaller and much cheaper, but just as relaxing, well worth a visit.

Aurora at Vik

We arrived at Vik, and immediately had to get ready for an Aurora that night. The sky was looking clear and the forecast was good. We headed out of the town and found a secluded picnic spot with a view over to the Hafursey mountain range, and waitied. It only took an hour for the lights to start appearing, and I captured this pleasing image of the lights snaking over the mountains.

What you don't see is that lovely secluded spot with just us and two other cars got a small bus load of tourists unloaded into it at the exact moment the lights started. Bad timing!

Along the south coast

Just to make my wife hate me, the plan the next day was to get up at stupid o'clock to make the 2 hour drive to Jökulsárlón for sunrise at Diamond Beach. After a long drive where I did at least get to see an Arctic Fox, we arrived at the famous ice strewn beach. I went a little further down the beach than most people there, where the ice is smaller, but there are no people, and found a nice shapely bit of ice sat on its own on the black sands.

And yes, my feet got wet.

After the sun had risen, we started heading back west towards our base at Vik, taking in a few stops along the way. First was Fjallsárlón, a glacier lake which at this time of the year is frozen solid and sparsely littered with frozen icebergs. It makes for an epic sight, and walking across this vast, quiet lake is an experience.

After that it was onwards to Svínafellsjökull glacier, a magnificent outlet from Vatnajokull surrounded by peaks. It was a very slippy walk to the viewpoint, but worth every near-tumble.

I set up on a little overlook and just sat there enjoying the view for a while, waiting for the light to move into just the right position. You could hear the cracking of the ice below.

Finally it was back to our temporary base of Vik. As the sun was setting I popped down to the black sand beach and pointed at the the rock formations called Reynisdrangar. I ended up with a very simple silhouette composition with the gentle waves in the foreground.

Finishing up

Our final stops before heading back home were to the famous Skógafoss waterfall and into the Katla Ice Caves.

We joined a tour for the Ice Caves and after a drive over the desolate, frozen landscape and a good walk we ended up in the glorious ice cave. I kept my camera away for most of it, as I just wanted to enjoy it, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to shoot this brilliant formation.

This round porthole into the landscape behind has probably collapsed by now, it was already dodgy enough for it to be out of bounds to people walking through it.

Finally it was on to Skógafoss, a waterfall which is incredibly popular, so much so that last time I was here we didn't even bother shooting it. This time it was still very busy, but with a bit of creative positioning and waiting around, found a spot that isolated the waterfall nicely, with the added bonus of a very slight rainbow.

And that was it for our Iceland adventure. Whilst the tourist hotspots along the south coast can get quite crowded, you are never 5 minutes away from being on your own and in a desolate, beautiful landscape. It's hardly surprising this is a bit of a hotspot for photographers and is somewhere I would like to come back to for a third time. I would particularly love to explore the east and north of the island, which gets a lot less tourism but still has that Icelandic beauty.